WI: Napoleon is not crowned Emperor

Let's say that Napoleon decides not to crown himself emperor of France. What happens? Does it continue the same as it was IOTL, just replacing words like king/kingdom, emperor/empire with Republic and consul? Or does the continuance of the Republic radically change the relations of between France and the monarchist countries? Does a republican France make some of the military mistakes that Bonaparte made?
 
Let's say that Louis XVII survives and manages to escape France, and is living in Britain or somewhere else in Europe. A king's surviving son claiming the throne would probably be more romanticized than a king's surviving brother claiming the throne. With this stronger claimant still living, perhaps Napoleon decides not to crown himself, and simply remains as Consul for life.
 
Let's say that Louis XVII survives and manages to escape France, and is living in Britain or somewhere else in Europe. A king's surviving son claiming the throne would probably be more romanticized than a king's surviving brother claiming the throne. With this stronger claimant still living, perhaps Napoleon decides not to crown himself, and simply remains as Consul for life.
I'm not so sure having a stronger claimant out there might increase "Out with the old in with the new" syndrome. During that time period one dynasty replacing another wasn't as radical as having a republican government so it might seem a safer bet to crown Nappy to shore up legitimacy. I would say the best bet might be to have someone else try to crown themselves King or Emperor before Napoleon's rise and fail miserably or better yet have them succeed just long enough to prove even more of a disaster then the Bourbons. Thus making it seem political suicide for anyone else to try it later. Similar to how Yuan Shikai pretty much killed any serious notion of reviving the monarchy in China.
 
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In 1802 Napoleon declared himself First Consul for life (and had this "ratified" by a referendum), so he was pretty much the de facto monarch before he actually became one. If you're proposing a timeline in which he isn't the monarch, the POD would presumably have to be before this time.
 
I seem to recall hearing that Napoleon shored up his power base by handing out imperial titles and honors like candy, and a quick check of wikipedia shows him creating about 2200 noble titles. Was this a significant factor in strengthening his political position, and if so, would an equivalent tool have been available in a continued Consulate?
 
In 1802 Napoleon declared himself First Consul for life (and had this "ratified" by a referendum), so he was pretty much the de facto monarch before he actually became one. If you're proposing a timeline in which he isn't the monarch, the POD would presumably have to be before this time.

Not necessarily. Being first consul for life can be aligned with republicanism and the ideals of the French Revolution. Once he crowned himself emperor and gave out titles, it seems as if he is reestablishing an Ancient Regime, albeit a reformed one. That cost him a lot of admirers.

If Napoleon had stayed consul for life, and history had continued more or less as IOTL, with Napoleon claiming in Elba that he just wanted to stay consul until the revolution was saved from the monarchs of Europe, he'd likely have stayed somewhat of a hero for revolutionaries up until the 20th century.
 
Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" would still be known as "Napoleon's", for it was the coronation that led Beethoven, who considered it a betrayal of revolutionary ideals, to scratch Napoleon's name from the title page of his latest work.

Title page with the erased dedication to Napoleon
Eroica_Beethoven_title.jpg
 
I seem to recall hearing that Napoleon shored up his power base by handing out imperial titles and honors like candy, and a quick check of wikipedia shows him creating about 2200 noble titles. Was this a significant factor in strengthening his political position, and if so, would an equivalent tool have been available in a continued Consulate?

Create Senators for Life and even a formal Patrician class.
 
Create Senators for Life and even a formal Patrician class.

Not only that: the times already showed that nobility means less and less without income/property. The titles Napoleon gave away typically came with property. There's nothing that prevents Napoleon from distributing estates to good republicans, and there's never been much that prevents a good republican from taking good public money...
 
It may make Russia less likely to join the coalition against him; the Tsar was a bit offended by Napoleon's parvenu attitude.
 
Plans for one of my timelines compels me to resurrect this thread.
What would the foreign policy of a continuing French First Republic be? Would Napoleon invade Spain, or Russia? How would the different nations of Europe continue relate with the French Republic?
 
There would be a great difference, he would be installing his brothers as consuls of [insert random neighboring state here] :p

Not really : he set his brothers in different kingdoms as he tought the dynastic feature would work better to have stable and pro-french states, rather than or let local dynasties or not really popular republics.

If he doesn't take the crown himself, he would have an harsher time to put his brothers on throne out of nowhere.
 
Does a continuing First French Republic face the same constant warfare that the First Empire did? What would it take for Britain to make peace with the First French Republic?
 
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